THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996 TAG: 9602150175
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Favorable weather, a lot of community support and an appearance by superstar talk show host Larry King combined to make the opening presentation of the Virginia Beach Forum a success last Friday night.
All 1,100 seats in the Pavilion theater were spoken for, said forum chairperson Shirley Barondess,
The extent of the community interest bodes well for the future of the group. Sales of tickets at $25 each covered overhead expenses including King's $10,000 fee, which is considered very modest compared to what most speakers currently command.
Individual and corporate donations of cash and services also added to the forum's financial success.
``We've had wonderful, wonderful support from the community,'' said Barondess. ``It helped us cut a lot of expenses.'' Among those who provided in-kind assistance was a local businessman who made his corporate jet available to fly King to and from Washington.
``Larry even gave back part of his fee as a donation,'' Barondess said. At King's direction, most of the remainder was given to the cardiac foundation he founded after undergoing major heart surgery.
The success of the Virginia Beach Forum's first offering leaves the local group, founded less than a year ago, determined to go ahead with plans for at least two lectures each year.
The next speaker, scheduled for October, is satirist P.J. O'Rourke, author of ``Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence and a Bad Haircut.''
Called the funniest writer in America by both Time and The Wall Street Journal, he has the distinction of being quoted in the Penguin Dictionary of Humorous Quotations more than any other living person.
Should the forum's second program prove as successful as the first, it may be necessary to change locations.
``If we find we're expanding that much, we'll just make plans to move over to one of the (Pavilion) convention halls,'' Barondess said. ``We expect to grow and forge on,'' she added.
One factor contributing to the growth of the Virginia Beach Forum is the fact that the venerable Norfolk Forum is fully subscribed, leaving many lecture fans without the opportunity to join.
Barondess foresees the Virginia Beach Forum as attracting audiences from across Hampton Roads. ``People will be coming out from Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk,'' she predicted. ``People will travel for things like this.'' by CNB